Amazon India Zero Referral Fee Explained: From Under ₹300 to Under ₹1,000

Amazon India's zero referral fee started in 2025 for products under ₹300 and was widened on 16 March 2026 to products under ₹1,000. Amazon says the 2026 version covers over 12.5 crore products in 1,800+ categories. Zero referral fee does not mean zero fees: closing fee, weight handling or shipping fee, and GST on fees still apply. This guide is current as of 9 November 2026.

What is a referral fee?

Amazon defines the referral fee as the commission a seller pays Amazon on each product sold. It is part of the "selling fee", which Amazon describes as the combined total of referral, weight handling, closing and other fees. It is set by category and charged as a percentage of the item price. The fees page example is Apparel: Baby at ₹1,450 with a 7% rate, giving a referral fee of ₹101.50. There is a short definition in the referral fee glossary.

How did the zero referral fee start in 2025?

Amazon's release is dated 24 March 2025 in its dateline, with revised fees effective 7 April 2025. The page header on Amazon's site shows 20 August 2025, which is a page date, not the announcement date. What it changed:

• Referral fee waived on products priced below ₹300, covering over 1.2 crore products in more than 135 categories, including apparel, shoes, fashion jewellery, grocery, home décor, beauty, toys, kitchen, automotive and pet products.
• National shipping rate for Easy Ship and Seller Flex starting at ₹65, down from ₹77.
• Weight handling fees for items under 1 kg cut by up to ₹17.
• Up to 90%+ saving on selling fees for the second unit when you ship more than one unit together.

. Amazon called this its "highest-ever reduction in seller fees". The release does not list exclusions, and its category list ends with "amongst others".

What changed on 16 March 2026?

The 2026 release raised the ceiling from ₹300 to ₹1,000. Zero referral fees now apply to products priced under ₹1,000 across 1,800+ categories, covering over 12.5 crore products, more than 10 times the 2025 number. Other points from the same release:

• Easy Ship fees fall by over 20% for products priced below ₹300.
• Sellers shipping multiple units in one box can save over 90% on selling fees for the second unit.
• Amazon says new sellers joining Amazon.in grew 50% year on year.

Which categories qualify, and which do not, is in a separate page: Amazon zero referral fee categories. The short version is that mobile phones, laptops, desktops and televisions show no zero band on the fee schedule.

How much can you actually save?

Amazon's headline is "up to 70%". Its own worked examples, all for products under 500 g, show the range:

The pattern is useful. The more of your old fee that was referral fee, the bigger the saving. A ₹299 t-shirt already had its referral fee waived in 2025, so the 2026 change moved it only 21%. A ₹999 necklace set, which paid referral fee before, saved 69%. The "70%" figure is the top of the range, and these are Amazon's illustrations, not an average. We could not find a public Amazon figure for the average saving.

What fees do you still pay?

1. Closing fee. It starts at ₹2 and varies by price band and channel; FC groups run from ₹14 to ₹27 up to ₹300. From 7 September 2026 it rose by ₹1 for items up to ₹500 and by ₹3 above ₹500 for FC, Easy Ship and Seller Flex.
2. Weight handling fee. It starts at ₹37 per item and is billed on the higher of actual and volumetric weight.
3. Other fees such as FC pick and pack and storage (₹50 per cubic foot per month).
4. 18% GST on the fees. The displayed fees exclude GST.

Self Ship carries no Amazon shipping fee, because you pay the courier. For Easy Ship specifics, read Amazon Easy Ship fee reduction.

Should you lower your price to get under ₹1,000?

Not automatically. Work it out per SKU:

1. Take your current price, referral fee percentage and other fees from the fee schedule.
2. Work out your margin at a price just under ₹1,000 with 0% referral fee.
3. Compare. A product at ₹1,100 with a 21% referral fee (Apparel: Shirts on the fee schedule above ₹1,000) pays about ₹231 in referral fee alone. At ₹999 it pays ₹0. Dropping ₹101 of price can leave you with more money.

For example, at ₹1,100 you get ₹1,100 minus ₹231 = ₹869 before other fees. At ₹999 you get ₹999. That is an illustration of the arithmetic, not a promise: it ignores closing, shipping and GST, and a lower price also changes conversion and ad economics. Test one product group first. You can use the under ₹1,000 margin calculator to run the comparison.

How do you check the change on your own account?

1. Download your last settlement or payments report and note the referral fee line for a sub-₹1,000 order placed after 16 March 2026.
2. Open the same ASIN in the Seller Central revenue calculator and compare the fee preview with what was actually charged.
3. If the charged referral fee is not 0% where the fee schedule shows 0%, open a case with Seller Support with the order ID and the fee schedule row.
4. Re-run margins for any SKU priced within ₹100 of the ₹1,000 line, because small price moves there change the referral fee a lot.

Sellers who sell the same product on Flipkart should compare with Flipkart zero commission, since both marketplaces now compete on fees below ₹1,000.

What is not confirmed?

• Whether a coupon or deal price counts for the ₹1,000 test. We could not find this on a public Amazon page; Amazon publishes this inside Seller Central.
• A full list of excluded categories in the press release. The release lists none; the fee schedule shows exceptions.
• Any average saving per seller. Amazon gives "up to 70%" and three examples only.

FAQ

What is Amazon's zero referral fee in India? It is a 0% referral fee on eligible products priced under ₹1,000 across 1,800+ categories, effective 16 March 2026. It replaced the narrower 2025 waiver for products under ₹300. Closing, weight handling and other fees still apply.

When did Amazon India remove referral fees under ₹300? Amazon's release is datelined 24 March 2025 and the revised fees took effect on 7 April 2025. It covered over 1.2 crore products in 135+ categories.

Does zero referral fee apply to FBA, Easy Ship and self-ship? Amazon's 2026 release lists self-shipping, Easy Ship and FBA as the fulfilment options and gives examples under Easy Ship and FBA. We found no statement that any channel is excluded from the zero referral fee, but fulfilment fees differ by channel.

Do I have to opt in to the zero referral fee? Amazon's release does not mention any opt-in or application. The fee schedule applies by category and price. If your Seller Central fee preview shows something different, raise a case with Seller Support.

Is the 70% saving guaranteed? No. Amazon says "up to 70%" and its examples range from 21% to 69% (FBA earphones: 56%). Your saving depends on your old referral fee, price, weight and fulfilment channel.

Is GST charged on Amazon fees? Yes. The fee schedule says 18% GST applies to the fees shown. Whether you can claim input tax credit depends on your registration. This is general information, not tax advice; check with a GST practitioner.

Next step

Take your top 20 SKUs by revenue and rerun margins at the new fees before changing any price. If you would rather hand that over, Blooprint's Amazon account management team does the SKU-level review and can also check Amazon seller fees in India against your settlement reports.